Automatic bail-lock



(No Model.)

G. B. BALLOU.

AUTOMATIC BAIL LOOK.

Patented Nov. 1'7, 1885.-

INVENTDR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE B. BALLOU, OF MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC BAIL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,816, dated November 17, 1885. Application filed February 19, 1835. Serial No. 156,337. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. BALLOU, of Milford, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Bail-Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

It is especially desirable, in order to handle easily a pot or kettle having a swinging ball, that it be provided with means for automatically locking it in a vertical position to the bail-ear, and especially is it so when it is necessary to turn the contents therefrom; and the object of this invention is to provide a cheap, simple, and efficient device for automatically looking a swinging bail, when in an upright or vertical position, to a flat bail-ear.

The invention is especially applicable to the class of pots and kettles distinct from what is generally known as hollow ware, andsuch, for instance, as brass and tin kettles made from sheet metal and having flat ears.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows in side elevation a tea-kettle fitted with my.

improvement. Fig. 2 shows the kettle in front elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view confined to the part of the bail and ear comprising my invention. Fig. 4 is a crosssection, enlarged, on the line 00 x of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the locking block or device, hereinafter more fully described.

A A represent the bail-ears. They are made of fiat metal, and are soldered or riveted to the sides of the kettle.

While my fastening device may be used with each car, it is not essential or desirable that it be so used, and I have shown it as used in connection with one car only. It comprises a sliding locking piece or look, B, having a projection, 12, narrower than the main portion of the block, which is adapted to enter a slot, b, formed in the fiat end 0 of the bail (l, and it is held in said slot by the knob b, which is either screwed or riveted to the block, and the base b of which extends beyond the edge of the slot b, upon "the outer side of the bail, as represented in Fig. 4. The bail is secured to each ear, in a manner to permit its swinging freely thereon, by the rivet or pin D, and there is formed in the upper portion of the ear A a vertical recess, a, which opens upwardly, and when the bail is in a vertical position the recess is parallel with the slot b, which extends downward to about the depth of the recess in the ear. This recess, however, is somewhat wider than the slot, being wide enough to easily take or receive the sliding block or look B, and the sliding block is so loosely fitted in the slot that when the bail is moved upward from an inclined position it automatically moves or falls upon the upper edge, a, of the bail-ear,which is made rounded, as represented in Fig. 3, and rides on the same until the bail is moved to a vertical position, when it automatically drops into the recess, and the bail is automatically fastened to the bail-ear in a manner to prevent its turning until the block or look has been moved upward. The entrance to the recess in the ear I have made somewhat rounded or inclined at the points a", so as to provide for the easy entrance of the bolt or look thereto. Of course, the upper edge of the slot b acts as a stop in preventing the lock or sliding block from moving away from the car more than alimited distance.

It will be seen that to lock the bail to the ears in a vertical position it is simply necessary to turn the bail upon the pivot until the latch-block automatically latches with the ear,

and that the bail will remain locked to the ears in a vertical or perpendicular position until it has been unlatched by moving upward the bolt or locking-block.

It will also be seen that while this invention is peculiarly applicable to pots or kettles having a flat ear, yet it is not of necessity confined to this class of ears.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The combination, with a pot or kettle, of the ears A and A, the former having the vertical locking-recess a, with the bail 0, having the slot b, and the locking bolt or latch B, secured to the bail, as described, and having a vertical movement in the slot b, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a pot or kettle, of

ICC

the ears A and A, the former of which has I the rounded surface a and slot a, with the bail G and slot 22, and'the sliding locking-bolt B,

loosely mounted in said slot,whereby the locking-bolt may bear upon the edge of the ear A 5 as it is moved from a horizontal to a vertical position, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, with a pot or kettle, of

the bai1-ears A and A, the former having the inclined or rounded upper surface or edge, a, 10 with the bail C, having the slot 1), and the sliding locking bolt or block 13, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

GEORGE B. BALLOU.

Witnesses:

HIRAM W. EAMES, CHARLES E. VVETHERBY. 

